Report: ViViD TOUR 2012 [Welcome to the ROCK★SHOW] 2012/07/01 at Tokyo International Forum Hall A

ViViD had just released their very first full album "INFINITY" on June 27th 2012, when they headed out to their first hall tour throughout the country. With a full set of new songs they toured Osaka, Nagoya and eventually Tokyo for the finale at International Forum Hall A. Despite it being an important step for ViViD as a band, the atmosphere seemed to be filled with joyful excitement, rather than with nervous tension to the outcome. Cheers echoed through the hall as soon as heavy beats and laser lights filled the hall for the members' welcome.

Opening the set with "live your life", ViViD started out with full power and Shin fired up the crowd, which responded with great enthusiasm. Well known songs like "BLUE", which had long found the way into the hearts of the fans, were presented with ease and received with head banging and shouts. Reno and Ryoga supported Shin with backing shouts, while flawlessly adding delicate guitar solos to aggressive riffs. The rhythm section with Iv and Ko-ki added their parts for the sound, with well balanced bass lines and nicely accentuated drum fills.

"Tokyo!!!" Shin shouted out. "Today is the finale of our hall tour. Thank you very much for coming. Did you know," he addressed the audience directly.

"This hall has been played by many great bands and also it shakes quite a lot when you jump? You know, I would like you to make it shake more than any time before! Let's go!!"

"FAKE", "risk" and "vanity" certainly did their part in getting the audience to jump and the hall to shake rather violently.

However, things turned quiet the moment for "memories in white" tuned down the volume and a mirror ball high above the crowd filled the venue with stars in blue and white. The passionate rock ballad ended in applause and was followed by "夏花 / Natsubana", which had both Reno and Ryoga perform on acoustic guitars, softening the sound for the audience to listen quietly.

Tempo sped up once again and the light tunes of "夏風~endless love~ / Natsukaze ~ endless love ~" had even Reno jump over the stage to the light beat. Eventually all members but Ko-ki left the stage and the drummer engaged in an aggressively speedy solo. Matching the solo, the track to follow was "explosion", a new song from the album, which was composed as a complete instrumental track.

It bid Reno, Ryoga and Iv back on stage and the four members presented a dramatic piece that was certainly new to ViViD's sound.

The new piece was followed by "「夢」～ムゲンノカナタ / [Yume]~Mugen no Kanata~" - well known for powerful riffs and beats. ViViD showed a mix of their best songs and most loved tracks, with those from their first album, as much as B-tracks and singles from their previous works and indies era.

The track to finish the main set was "survive". Throughout the show all members had gotten livelier and moved across the stage, interacting playfully with each other, smiling widely. With the relaxed mood on stage, the audience of course protested once ViViD had left the stage and demanded an encore right ahead. "REAL" and „Bright red garden" made for a light opening before each member directed a short statement at the crowd.

Reno: "Good evening! We are back. Nagoya and Osaka were fun and every time I came to think that live performances are really fun. I feel alive on stage. If we fail once, we look at our mistakes and correct them. We'll give our best again and again."

Ryoga: "We are home. I am good. Thank you so much for the encore. I want to keep these feelings of making music with these five members."

Iv: "I was a little unsure if we'd make it for a hall tour, but we did it thanks to you! I want to play live more and keep enjoying them with you."

Ko-ki: "I was nervous a lot, but all turned out to be great fun. Thank you! So many people came to see us today. I was worried that you would forget about us if we don't play live. But you didn't."

Shin: "We had a lot of fun today. We are who we are and we are aiming to become the coolest band ever standing in front of you. As members we do fight among each other seriously, because we are all serious about what we are doing."

Shin eventually announced the last song "EVER", meant to be directed with all its incorporated feelings for each and everyone in the audience. However, band and fans were reluctant to let go and ViViD returned on stage yet another time.

"We had decided for this tour to end the performance with "EVER", yet we wanted to be with you more and eventually, "Dear" would make a good ending, too."

At last, ViViD finished off their performance, with the song that already held a special place in the heart of each fan, followed by a united jump and picture taken for a great memory.

source: MJ+